FHR-8-300 (11-78) United States Department off the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory — Nomination Form See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms Type all entries — complete applicable sections ________________ 1. Name__________________ historic Washoe Theater ____________________________ and/or common Washoe Theater ________________________ 2. Location street & number 305 Main N/A not for publication city, town Anaconda N/A vicinity of congressional district Montana First state Montana code 030 county Deer Lodge code 023 3. Classification Category Ownership Status Present Use district public X occupied agriculture museum x building(s) X private unoccupied commercial park structure both work in progress educational private residence site Public Acquisition Accessible _ X- entertainment religious object in process _X _ yes: restricted government scientific being considered yes: unrestricted industrial transportation N/A no military others 4. Owner of Property name___Henry Lussy street & number 1818 Tammany Avenue city, town Anaconda N/A vicinity of state Montana 59711 5. Location of Legal Description courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Deer Lodge County Courthouse street & number Anaconda city, town state Montana 59711 6. Representation in Existing Surveys title N/A has this property been determined elegible? __ yes _X_ no date federal __ state __ county __ local depository for survey records city, town state 7. Description Condition Check one Check one X excellent deteriorated X unaltered _ X- original site qood ruins altered moved date fair unexposed Describe the present and original (iff known) physical appearance The Washoe Theater occupies a large portion of the 300 block on Main Street in Anaconda. The main portion or auditorium area is a two-story structure, while the entry and office are one-story. The exterior is finished in striated red brick laid in interesting patterns. The parapet wall above the office and entry courts has a saw tooth line. The two-story section is divided into sections by white panels (three sets) that break up the surface. According to early photographs and the working drawings there were windows in these areas that lighted the stairways and mezzanine lounge. At street level beneath the two outside groups of panels are niches or blind arcading. The central panel section does not extend downward as far as the flanking sets and has a pattern of brick corbelling below it. Underneath this are three flattened pointed arches that frame the fire exit doors. Little has changed on the exterior of the building. The present marquee differs from that shown in the 1936 newspaper article celebrating the theater's opening. Glass doors enclose what was once an open but roofed court between the office complex and the foyer. The interior is much the same except for a newer refreshment center. The glass entry doors open into an enclosed entry court. The offices are to the left of this vestibule and behind the office are serveral rooms that serve as a mini-museum. Here are furniture, clothing, dishes, etc. that had belonged to owner Henry Lussy's grandmother, Marie Paumie Rimbaud. Turning right from the vestibule one enters the foyer of the theater through etched glass doors. The foyer runs the full width of the building on a north-south axis. One begins to sense the magnificance of the interior from the wall and ceiling decor. The first space is an almost-square entrance lobby that accommodates the usual refreshment stand. It has a ceiling built up of receding planes painted a Cerulean blue graduated from a light blue at the walls to a deep blue in the center. According to the interior decorator, Nat Smythe, of Hollywood, this gave a sense of unlimited height. Beyond this lobby is the long formal foyer with entries into the auditorium on the left (east) side and stairs leading up to the balcony centered on the other side. The ceiling of the foyer is broken into segments rising from the pilasters spaced at intervals on the walls. A large mural by artist Colville Smythe enhances the center section of the ceiling and wall. The theme of this mural was taken from an ancient Persian fairy tale, "The Princess and the Rock." A large circular mirror has been worked into the mural's composition, The remainder of the foyer ceiling throughout the building except in the entrance lobby are covered with acoustic plaster and painted. The domed ceiling of the theater auditorium is richly treated; it is referred to by the designer as a "roof of ornament." A mural entitled "Montana" has been painted on the plaster of the domed area. On one side is the figure of a miner and opposite are figures depicting culture, education and industry symbolizing Montana's and the world's dependence upon copper. A large chandelier hangs from the center. The entire auditorium is painted in soft pastel shades of rose, powder blue and yellow that emphasize the shallow modeling of the various mouldings. These colored areas are accented with gold, silver and copper to better define them in the subdued lighting. There is a frieze of bas-relief of ram's heads in medallions around the auditorium. This is finished FHR-8-300 (11-78) United States Department off the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet____________________Item number 7 Page 2 in eight shades of gold, as are the decorative plaster column capitals on the posts at the sides of the auditorium and in the foyer. The low areas are in matt gold and the raised areas in burnished gold. A similar treatment occurs around the proscenium arch with various portions additionally highlighted with copper leaf. The walls of the auditorium are finished in a rose beige. This color is especially effective around the groupings of the blind theater boxes on either side of the stage. No organ was ever installed, but had been included in the plans by the architect. The matt and burnished gold leaf of the proscenium arch make a very effective foil for the highly decorated turquoise blue silk plush curtain of the stage. The curtain was hand painted, it bears two deer rearing up in the center and features a gold fringe across the bottom. Red tormentors frame the curtain. The stairs to the curved balcony rise from the foyer to a landing and split left and right, both sets leading up to a mezzanine-lounge at the head of the stairway. This is painted in a soft salmon color. Horizontal bands are graduated from light at the ceiling line to darker at the floor line; these bands are separated by silver lines, giving an effect of spaciousness. The warm salmon color is also used on the stairways and foyer. Figures entitled "Nocturne" are painted on the walls of each upper stair landing. The ceiling panels of the stairways are painted in a modern version of a classic theme of bands and head-in-medallion. Extreme attention has been given throughout the building in the elaborate painting, bas relief, lighting fixtures and choice of decor. Even the rods holding the curtains over the auditorium doors are decorated with a leaf motif on their ends. The lighting fixtures are all original and in good shape. They are various forms of metal and frosted glass. The seats are original and need reupholstering but appear to be in good shape structurally. 8. Significance Period Areas off Significance — Check and justify below prehistoric archeology-prehistoric community planning landscape architecture religion 1400-1499 archeology-historic conservation law science 1500-1599 agriculture economics literature . sculpture 1600-1699 _ X- architecture education military _ social/ 1700-1799 art engineering music humanitarian 1800-1899 commerce exploration/settlement philosophy X . theater JL.1900- communications industry politics/government . transportation invention other (specify) Specific dates 1931/1936 Builder/Architect GuQ Forseen/B . Marcus Priteca Statement off Significance (in one paragraph) The Washoe Theater in Anaconda, Montana is one of the most finely preserved theaters in the United States. The restrained exterior masonry ornamentation gives little indication of the elaborate and completely original Art Deco furnishing, light fixtures, beautiful silver, copper and gold leaf, and ceiling and wall murals which await movie fans on the inside. The drawings for the Washoe are dated April ?.930. The Art Deco design of this 1,000 seat theater is the work of the Seattle based architect, B. Marcus Priteca. The contractor was Gus Forseen of Missoula, who also built the Anaconda Junior High School. When completed, the Washoe cost $200,000. Although construction began in 1930- 1931, the depression delayed the interior finish work until 1936 when the theater finally was able to open. B. Marcus Priteca (1890-1971), had a distinguished career as a theater architect, beginning in 1911 with the opening of the San Francisco Pantages Theater which he designed for Alex Pantages. From that time Priteca, then 21, was to be the sole architect for the Pantages circuit, the largest privately owned vaudeville circuit in the world. In 1916 he designed the Coliseum of Seattle, considered to be the first movie palace. Other theaters designed by Priteca were a second Pantages in San Francisco, Pantages theaters in Memphis, San Diego, Fresno and Hollywood, Warner Brothers Theaters in Huntington Park, San Pedro and Beverly Hills, Orpheum theaters in Vancouver and Seattle (still standing and in use as a playhouse), and Palomar and Paramount theaters in Seattle. In all he designed approximately 150 major theaters. The elaborate interior decoration was under the direction of Nat Smythe of Los Angeles, California. The murals on the walls and ceilings were painted by Nat and "young artist, Colville N.